Establishing and testing a digital lab notebook
Prof. Dr. Christina Bogner with Andreas Bolten
Geography - Laboratory for Physical Geography
Idea
Electronic lab notebooks (ELN) are an important tool to ensure data safety and reproducibility of experimental results in a lab. It is part of a thorough research data management (https://fdm.uni-koeln.de/serviceangebot/servicekatalog-1). At the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, we have the opportunity to test the software eLABJOURNAL. In this proposal, we suggest to test eLABJOURNAL in the Laboratory of the Institute of Geography within the working group Ecosystem Research and to report whether this software can be used more broadly within the KPA to e.g., exchange protocols between different working groups and coordinate our technical infrastructure (Großgeräte) more efficiently.
Result
The test phase with eLABJOURNAL from eLabNext in the laboratory of the Institute of Geography within the Ecosystem Research working group has shown that the system provides a solid basis for the documentation of laboratory processes. eLABJOURNAL was primarily designed for biological applications and therefore has some limitations in the direct recording and analysis of spatial data and the complete mapping of complex environmental analyses. The test phase highlights the need for specific adaptations to optimise the functionality of the system to meet the requirements of geoscientific research - particularly in the area of data acquisition and linking of samples with additional parameters.
Currently, eLABJOURNAL is not used in the laboratory of the Geography Department.